Buy local and keep them down on the farm

IT was shocking and sad to see Ireland’s farmers out on their tractors last Monday in protest at falling prices and loss of income.

Rickard Deasy must have been looking down on those farmers with a mixture of sadness and pride ... pride at seeing them taking a stand and demanding action.

The fact that things are so bad that farmers are out on the streets, as they were in 1966, is a sad indictment of this great agricultural country. What was even more shocking to me was to hear an RTÉ reporter covering one of the protests channelling the complaints of the local populace about the inconvenience, etc., when they were “out and about doing their shopping”. Well, maybe those shoppers should take a good look at what is in their shopping bags.

Ireland is in recession and obviously the farming sector is suffering just as much as any other. One solution might be simply to buy Irish and buy locally, thereby serving the local farmers in particular and the country in general.

Could there be a more important time for local loyalty and national pride?

The next time you do your weekly shopping, just take a few seconds to turn the box or bag over and see where those potatoes, carrots or peas were grown. There should always be a choice on the shelves – that’s what a free market is all about – but in light of the recession, the obvious choice must be to pick up the Irish-made or Irish-grown product.

To those who say that sometimes the Irish-produced item is €1 or €2 more expensive than the imported product, just ask yourself this: what exactly can you buy for €1 or €2 now? Would it not be better to plough those euro back into the Irish economy and invest in buying the spuds, carrots and turnips produced by farmers in Ireland? The next time you go shopping, think of your neighbours, friends, cousins, brothers or uncles who are struggling to earn a living from farming in Ireland today. If in any doubt about the importance of everyone doing their own little bit, just ask anyone who remembers the March to Dublin in 1966 and those who went to jail in 1967. Buy Irish and shop locally – your children will thank you, and Rickard Deasy would thank you, too

Gaye Walsh

827 NE 100th

Seattle

Washington State 98125

USA